The Future of B2B Sales: Hybrid Sales and Online Lead Generation

Table of Contents

What does the future of B2B sales look like? The COVID-19 pandemic has been impacting us for almost 1.5 years now and has had massive effects on both our private lives and the work world. Entire industries have been and are in crisis, and almost all companies had to rethink their work models and ensure the greatest possible safety for employees. Sales have also been affected, and new tools and channels for lead generation had to be found, especially in the B2B sector.

In this blog post, we share current insights from expert surveys with you and provide tips for your own B2B sales: which sales models are future-proof? Where and how can online channels assist? What advantages has COVID-19 brought to lead generation? How can you achieve effective sales?

How the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world of work and sales

Due to contact restrictions and the necessity of hygiene concepts, travel was heavily restricted, especially in spring and fall/winter 2020 and in spring 2021. Companies switched to remote work, and sales had to work from home offices and largely forego on-site visits to (potential) customers.

Interestingly, some companies reported better productivity when working from home – especially those employers who actively supported and encouraged their employees during the pandemic. That's what a McKinsey study found.

The Sales Management Department at Ruhr University Bochum conducted an extensive survey of B2B companies in the DACH region regarding their sales experience during the 2020 pandemic. Executives and sales leaders from 777 medium and large companies were surveyed via questionnaire. Over 50% of them were either in the service sector or manufacturers of industrial goods.

Over 89% of respondents were affected by the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020; this meant that customer on-site visits were not possible. Nevertheless, the majority of companies met their sales targets or narrowly missed them. About 19% slightly exceeded their targets, and over 8% significantly exceeded them.

This suggests that successful sales are possible at least predominantly remotely. Channels such as online meetings, video calls on smartphones, and even LinkedIn and online demos were primarily used.

You can read more results from the survey as you continue through this article.

Hybrid Work and Hybrid Sales - the Models of the Future

The future work model is hybrid. Employees appreciate the freedoms and flexibility of working from home but miss the office and colleagues and feel isolated. Not everyone can work well at home; conditions vary significantly depending on the family situation and living environment.

A McKinsey study found that 9 out of 10 surveyed employers want to combine in-office presence and remote work post-pandemic. However, there is largely still no plan for how exactly this should be implemented. This leads to significant uncertainty among employees, the study revealed. For example, questions need to be resolved such as: How should work be structured? What are the expectations? Concrete approaches or guidelines are largely lacking.

The result is burnout, concerns, and stress. A situation that employers must respond to, to reduce as many uncertainties and fears as possible. A good approach is to include employees in decision-making processes and discussions: what do the employees themselves want?

Sales will likely increasingly rely on hybrid and remote models, and here too, there must be fixed rules and structures. According to the survey of the Sales Management Department at Ruhr University Bochum, around four times the number of visits were possible compared with on-site sales. Furthermore, online meetings save time – averaging 40 minutes, they were significantly shorter than on-site visits, which averaged 70 minutes. In addition, the travel time that cannot be 100% productively used is saved. This way, the online variant saves even more time and frees up resources.

The results suggest that sales are also moving toward hybrid sales, as companies have recognized the advantages of online sales. However, there are also hurdles that companies had to overcome, as hardly any innovation comes without challenges and difficulties.

The Challenges of New Hybrid Work Models in Sales

Hybrid sales mean combining on-site visits and online meetings. The survey of Ruhr University Bochum shows where the challenges lie.

Online sales operations are subject to different conditions than traditional channels with personal on-site contact. Processes need to be rethought, team leaders and sales staff must learn new skills. Hurdles can also be observed on the customer side.

According to the study, the acceptance of online sales varies significantly among different customer types. About ⅔ of the global accounts and key accounts could be reached well through online channels. Among B and C customers, it was only about half or even just 42%. Differences were also noted across different industries.

Not every occasion and situation is suitable for an online meeting.

The study differentiates between these customer groups and situations:

New customers

• Initial contact initiation

• First purchase consultation

• Relationship building/follow-up

• Negotiation appointment

• Problem-solving and coordination execution

According to the assessment and experience of the respondents, problem-solving is particularly suitable for the online format in new customer sales, while all other situations should be conducted as on-site visits. This applies particularly to negotiation appointments.

For existing customers, according to the survey, all situations are suitable, although relationship maintenance works better in direct personal contact on-site:

• Consultation on new product/first purchase

• Repeat purchase/order (similar/modified product)

• Relationship maintenance

• Negotiation appointment

• Problem-solving and coordination execution

Differences between the various industries of respondents were also noted:

• Online meetings are particularly useful for banks, insurance companies, and financial services, as well as IT and telecommunications

• Most problematic for wholesale and retail

It is important to understand the customer's preferred care mode - online or on-site.

Only this information helps decide for which customers and situations the on-site visit is important or even necessary for closing a deal and where online meetings suffice or even offer advantages.

Virtual team meetings and video conferences have been a fixed part of many teams' workdays since March 2020. Their advantages and disadvantages have been extensively discussed, such as the fact that it is impossible to look someone in the eye during video calls. Online formats also lead to fatigue more quickly, necessitating more frequent breaks – something that online conferences have already widely accounted for with shorter sessions and more breaks.

The biggest challenge in online sales lies mainly in the limited perception of non-verbal, emotional language. Many cues such as facial expressions, gestures, and body posture are lost in video calls, which are available in personal contact and help assess the situation. However, technical issues and the skill levels of sales staff in online meetings are also challenges.

This means that new skills are needed, sales staff need to be trained, and the optimal process and suitable tools need to be tested and established.

Online Lead Generation as a Relief for Sales

If COVID-19 has shown us and our customers one thing, it is this: online channels are almost indispensable in sales. Nevertheless, many companies are not yet fully exploiting the potential of online advertising and lead generation.

Online lead generation offers many advantages, such as:

• Scalability: If the size of the target audience is known, online advertising can be well scaled. Additional information such as the average click-through rate for the respective channel and type of advertisement, as well as click prices or costs for a specific number of ad impressions, make it easier to predict how many people can be reached with a specific budget – and what it costs to increase this number and gain more leads.

• Measurability: With properly set up tracking, channels and individual campaigns can be accurately evaluated for their efficiency and ROI or ROAS. Even individual ads can be compared to implement campaigns as effectively as possible and achieve the best ratio of revenue to expenditure.

• Precise Targeting: The targeted approach to target audiences with precisely defined measures is possible in various online channels because such information is available and can be used. For example, this might mean addressing executives in a particular industry via LinkedIn in B2B sales or reaching people of a certain gender with specific characteristics or interests on Facebook in the B2C sector.

What does this mean for B2B sales and new sales models? Where can online marketing and online lead generation assist?

Depending on the target audience and industry or topic, online advertising can reach a high reach – initial contacts could be established through presence in paid and unpaid search results as well as visibility on appropriate social media channels and be fed into the sales funnel.

Additionally, if a sales tool like LeadInfo (link to blog post) is used, sales can be significantly relieved by pre-qualifying potential customers and passing only the most promising contacts with a high conversion likelihood to sales.

Online marketing also helps increase brand visibility, position the company as an expert and authority, and build trust with the target audience. Thus, online actions can significantly increase the number of contacts with potential customers without the sales team always having to be in personal contact. Therefore, online lead generation can effectively complement traditional sales.

Achieving Successful Hybrid B2B Sales

The survey has shown: The hybrid sales model leads to more productivity and saves time and money. Digital channels offer many opportunities in B2B sales as well, although online contact cannot entirely replace on-site contact – the right balance must be found. The key success factors from the results of the Ruhr University Bochum survey and our own experience summarized for you:

1. The training of sales staff is essential to be well-prepared for online meetings and successfully conduct them. Sales competencies are even more critical online due to the limited non-verbal cues, with new skills needed; for instance, managing conversations over online tools.

2. In this context, leaders must also take on a coaching role, accompany and support employees. The topic of remote leadership has gained significantly more importance since COVID-19 – leading hybrid or remote teams is a skill many leaders had to acquire: How can motivation be maintained even while working from home? How can team cohesion and camaraderie be strengthened even if the team only meets virtually?

3. High-quality technical equipment is a prerequisite to avoiding problems and appearing professional. This applies to both the hardware and suitable tools.

4. To have an effective sales process, online platforms and CRM systems must be integrated into the sales process.

5. Equally important is correct lead tracking and the assignment of leads to the respective channels and campaigns, as well as the qualification of contacts for the sales process.

6. All relevant channels should be used in online lead generation, even in B2B sales, especially social networks. Relevant initial contacts can be reached via LinkedIn or XING, for example. Ultimately, it is the combination of various channels that increases success. It is less about the number of on-site visits and more about the total number of contacts: How often do prospects interact with the company – through organic reach, paid campaigns, and personal contact, both online and on-site?

7. In traditional sales, it was mainly print brochures, catalogs, or on-site product demonstrations. For online sales meetings, high-quality virtual product and company information such as professional product images and videos, promotional videos, the possibility for demos, and online company brochures are the equivalent.

8. Good preparation of meetings is key to success online too: this includes, for example, a pre-sent agenda; the ability to prioritize topics or plan for experts who can be brought in as needed (an advantage over on-site sales – additional people can be added without significant additional cost).

9. Freeing up capacities should be used sensibly – for instance, by supervising a larger number of customers or intensifying the care of existing customers. The online format can also allow the internal sales service to participate actively in sales, for instance, to serve small customers with minimal effort and improve customer retention.

Hybrid sales, therefore, requires adapted structures and processes akin to Hybrid Work models, as well as training sales and considering all relevant online channels. There's a substantial opportunity to win significantly more leads at lower costs and support a larger number of customers per sales employee. Despite all the challenges, COVID-19 has opened at least new perspectives and potentials for sales.

Digital B2B Lead Generation with internetwarriors

Do you want to relieve your sales and gain more potential customers through online lead generation? As a full-service online marketing agency, we have experts for all important channels on our team and can support you and your sales team in setting up campaigns and installing efficient tracking. This way, you gain more qualified leads for your sales team to process, increasing your visibility in your industry as well as your number of prospects and closures.

We analyze your situation with you, identify the right channels and measures for you, and support you from conceptualization to implementation and evaluation.

Contact us without obligation!

Sources

• Survey by the Sales Management Department at Ruhr University Bochum: “Hybrid Selling: More Sales Productivity through Synchronized On-Site and Online Visits” (Link? https://smd.rub.de/hybrid-selling-blog/)

• McKinsey & Company: “What executives are saying about the future of hybrid work” (Link https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/what-executives-are-saying-about-the-future-of-hybrid-work)

• McKinsey & Company: “What employees are saying about the future of remote work” (Link https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/what-employees-are-saying-about-the-future-of-remote-work)

Did you enjoy the blog? Recommend it now!

Facebook

Twitter

Telegram

Linkedin

Envelope

Whatsapp

AUTHOR